Auret roars closer to national championship

POWERHOUSE: The grunt of the 650hp, 7-litre Chev ploughed through the mud in Napier to give Hamish Auret an extended lead in the New Zealand 4x4 Championship PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Wanganui driver Hamish Auret can almost taste a series win in the New Zealand 4x4 Championship after yet another victory in Napier at the weekend.

Auret and co-pilot Paul Barnes from the Egmont club have now won three of the four rounds to date in the series and extended their lead from two points to five after the Napier leg. The only hiccup was a seventh on an unsuitable track in Hunterville last month.

The dry surface in the back blocks of Hunterville was simply not suitable for their Pirtek Hydraulics-sponsored 650hp, 7-litre Chev truck.

However, it was a different story in Hawke's Bay last weekend on farmland featuring natural springs and creeks to provide mud.

"It was a challenging and testing course and that's just what we need for our machine - it's one of the most powerful on the circuit this season. Muddy tracks suit the big horsepower machines far better than dry tracks," Auret said yesterday.

"We did have a couple of rolls, but, overall, we were too strong. The guy closest to us in the series, Scott Biggs from Auckland, finished fourth in Napier and that pushed our lead from two to five with two rounds to go.

"The next round is in Wellington and, traditionally, that track doesn't suit us. It's a tight, technical track and we finished fifth last time there. I'm desperate to win the national title after nearly 10 years racing and, as long as we even have an average run in Wellington, I think we will be hard to beat in the final round in Thames."

While Auret has won a national winter series, the best he has done in the national championship is a couple of thirds.

"I really want this one and I can almost taste it. But, hey, it's not hard to roll from the top of a hill and smash things."